1. Field
The technology of the present application relates generally to computer telephony integration and inputs to computer application, and more specifically, to using a passive, non-amplified audio splitter such that a customer service representative audio signal is always provided to the return line of the caller and to an input to the speech to text application, which is typically through a processor audio card.
2. Background
Many businesses use customer call centers, whether virtual or brick and mortar, to service their customer base. In these call centers, a customer frequently calls into the center and a customer service representative (CSR) answers the call. The CSR often asks a series of questions and enters the information into a graphical user interface (GUI) located at the CSR's workstation for use by the customer relationship management applications (CRM applications or applications). In many instances, the CRM application will auto populate on receipt of certain customer information.
Data or commands must be entered into the CRM application by the CSR. Manual entry of the data or commands is at best difficult and error prone. Often the CSR must request the customer to repeat information. In other instances, the CSR makes errors when entering the information regardless of whether the customer repeats the information. Generally, the manual entry of the data is error prone and time consuming. Voice automation of the data entry can improve the productivity of data entry to CRM applications by the CSR. Generally, voice automation both speeds up the entry of the data and reduces the errors associated with the data entry. Voice automation improves efficiency because generally it takes less time to speak a command, location, or data value than to enter the same with a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, or the like.
Conventionally, using voice automation requires that an audio stream (sometimes referred to simply as audio) be directed to the speech to text engine such that the speech to text engine can convert the audio stream into text that is returned to the CSR workstation. The returned text may be used at a data or a command prompt. The text is input to the CRM at the appropriate data or command entry field, which may occur by placement of the cursor at the appropriate position such that the return text automatically populates the field or by pasting the data to the field from the copy buffer, or the like. To direct the audio stream, the CSR would activate a toggle or a switch, which may be a unified communications (UC) switch, such that the switch presents the audio stream to either the customer (i.e., caller) or the speech to text engine.
The switching of the audio from one output to another provides numerous drawbacks, however. In some cases, the switch provides delay in either responding to the customer or inputting audio to the speech to text engine. In other cases, the switch degrades the audio signal to the speech to text engine, for one example, by over amplification resulting in clipped or saturated signals. These are but two drawbacks of conventional switches. Additionally, the toggling of phone mute buttons and computer telephone integration switches is itself tiresome and distracting from agents resulting in additional difficulty for CSRs, sometimes generating sufficient difficulty that agents refuse to use voice automation.
Thus, against the above background, improvements are needed to allow implementation of voice automation in customer service applications.